By The Journal Times Editorial Board | Posted: Friday, June 26, 2009 12:00 am
THUMBS UP: Safety first! That old slogan apparently has become the state's unofficial motto on highway weed whacking and median grass cutting.
State agencies - including the Department of Transportation - have been hunting ways to contain costs and told Wisconsin counties they will only pay for mowing medians on state highways once during the summer in order to redirect spending toward safety measures like highway shoulder repair, enforcement in construction zones and guardrail repair. The cutting cuts drew the wrath of more than a few area residents and three area legislators who said the policy posed an "extreme safety concern" and complained that turning vehicles might not see oncoming cars because of tall weeds. That wasn't really the case. State highway officials said this week the state always intended to pay counties to mow where there are safety issues. That still leaves the unsightly issue where "safety cuts" end and overgrown weed stacks begin - giving some area roads the appearance of having a haircut done by a 5-year-old. Certainly it gives face - an unshaven one - to those who cry out for cutting government spending. Wisconsin is not alone in whacking the weed whacking - Virginia, Delaware, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are among the states who have also mowed down their mowing schedules. The weedy look is not something that is very attractive for a community, but under the state budget that is in the final stages of wending its way through the Legislature state agencies face additional cuts of about 6 percent. The needy, weedy look may be around for a few years unless the Department of Transportation gets a directive to elevate aesthetics over safety issues. It's tough to argue that safety shouldn't be the first priority for our roads. In the meantime, if you spot an intersection with a weedy safety issue, call the Department of Public Works at (262) 886-8440 and ask for a trim.
THUMBS UP: It seems like only yesterday we were bemoaning the still-frigid temperatures of June and noted the frost warnings that were going up across the northern half of the state. Summer officially came romping in last Sunday and already it has unloaded a heat wave sufficient to trigger health warnings for humans and sent dogs seeking the closest spot in the shade. Perhaps we were too harsh with our treatment of the weatherman. In the interest of spending at least some of summer outside, we'd be glad to agree to a compromise and agree to give up a few degrees of heat.
THUMBS DOWN: Last week's basement flooding found some area homeowners - belatedly - checking their homeowners insurance policy to see what coverage they had from the storm damage. One family in Kenosha found they only had a rider policy on damages related to a failed sump pump that had a cap of $5,000 - and damages well past that figure. The Kenosha News quoted an insurance association official as saying that most people in urban areas don't have flood insurance. "That's not to say that if you have well-finished basement with a lot of home entertainment (equipment), a bar, a lot of valuables, it's certainly something to talk to your agent about to get a separate flood policy." Shop around, he said. That advice is too late for homeowners who were hit last week, but we all know the rains will come again.
THUMBS DOWN: There would, of course, be more flooded basements if area wastewater treatment plants didn't open the gates and jet combined rainwater and sewage water into Lake Michigan. Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District once again led the way with just under a billion gallons of overflow. 935.7 million gallons to be more precise. That's roughly double the capacity of the Milwaukee's Deep Tunnel storage system. Racine's wastewater treatment system also had trouble keeping up, especially on the south side of the city. We had overflows here of 322,700 gallons, according to city officials. That's nothing to be proud of, of course, but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the Milwaukee spillage which was 3,000 times greater.
THUMBS UP: A tip of the baseball cap to Scott Katterhagen of Union Grove for keeping his eye on the ball and knowing a good opportunity when he saw one. Katterhagen, former chairman of the village's Park and Recreation Commission, spotted a Kellogg's breakfast food commercial during the Super Bowl that touted a program to renovate 30 athletic playing fields nationwide. After an online balloting contest, the village was notified they'll get up to $15,000 to turn a 6-acre parcel into two usable baseball fields to serve 350 youth baseball players in Union Grove.